17-letter words containing e, a, s, y
- cast/run your eye — If you cast your eye or run your eye over something, you look at it or read it quickly.
- chadless keypunch — (hardware) A card punch which cut little U-shapes in punched cards, rather than punching out a circle or rectangle. The U's made a hole when folded back. One of the Jargon File's correspondents believed that the term "chad" derived from the Chadless keypunch. Obviously, if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the stuff that other keypunches made had to be "chad". The assertion that the keypunch was named after its inventor is not supported by any record in US or UK patents or surname references.
- chancery division — (in England) the Lord Chancellor's court, now a division of the High Court of Justice
- charles henry dow — Charles Henry, 1851–1902, U.S. journalist and publisher: a founder of Dow Jones company.
- chartered society — a society that has an official charter
- classless society — a society in which class distinctions are negligible or absent
- comedy of manners — a comedy dealing with the way of life and foibles of a social group
- commodity markets — stock markets in which commodities are traded
- company secretary — A company secretary is a person whose job within a company is to keep the legal affairs, accounts, and administration in order.
- conspiracy theory — A conspiracy theory is a belief that a group of people are secretly trying to harm someone or achieve something. You usually use this term to suggest that you think this is unlikely.
- contemporaneously — living or occurring during the same period of time; contemporary.
- contraflow system — a system of traffic lanes whose normal direction is reversed to allow traffic to move during repairs or an accident
- coordinate system — a system of coordinates that uses numbers to represent a point, line, or the like.
- copernican system — the theory published in 1543 by Copernicus which stated that the earth and the planets rotated around the sun and which opposed the Ptolemaic system
- coral honeysuckle — trumpet honeysuckle.
- coronary arteries — either of two arteries that originate in the aorta and supply the heart muscle with blood.
- counterparty risk — the risk that a person who is a party to a contract will default on their obligations under that contract
- cover your tracks — If someone covers their tracks, they hide or destroy evidence of their identity or their actions, because they want to keep them secret.
- cracked gas dryer — A cracked gas dryer is a piece of equipment for removing water vapor from natural gas, for example, using adsorbers and membranes.
- cracking severity — Cracking severity is the temperature used in a cracking process to yield a product, higher temperatures being used to produce ethane and benzene, and lower temperatures to produce propene and liquid products.
- criminally insane — habitually criminal because of a psychological illness
- cryopreservations — the storage of blood or living tissues at extremely cold temperatures, often -196 degrees Celsius.
- cryptocrystalline — (of rocks) composed of crystals that can be distinguished individually only by the use of a polarizing microscope
- cytomegaloviruses — Plural form of cytomegalovirus.
- deadly nightshade — a poisonous Eurasian solanaceous plant, Atropa belladonna, having dull purple bell-shaped flowers and small very poisonous black berries
- defence secretary — the member of a government who is responsible for the country's armed forces
- dehydrochlorinase — an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of hydrogen and chlorine atoms or ions from chlorinated hydrocarbons.
- delay instruction — delayed control-transfer
- deoxyribonuclease — DNase.
- dephosphorylation — the removal of a phosphate group from an organic compound, as in the changing of ATP to ADP.
- desaix de veygoux — Louis Charles Antoine [lwee sharl ahn-twan] /lwi ʃærl ɑ̃ˈtwan/ (Show IPA), 1768–1800, French general.
- despotic monarchy — absolute monarchy.
- desynchronisation — (British spelling) Alternative form of desynchronization.
- desynchronization — to cause to indicate the same time, as one timepiece with another: Synchronize your watches.
- deterministically — the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws.
- diaphragm pessary — a device for inserting into the vagina to deliver a drug, such as a contraceptive
- disability clause — a clause in a life-insurance policy providing for waiver of premium and sometimes payment of monthly income if the policyholder becomes totally and permanently disabled.
- disadvantageously — In a disadvantageous manner.
- disaster recovery — (business) (DR) Planning and implementation of procedures and facilities for use when essential systems are not available for a period long enough to have a significant impact on the business, e.g. when the head office is blown up. Disasters include natural: fire, flood, lightning, hurricane; hardware: power failure, component failure, head crash; software failure: bugs, resources; vandalism: arson, bombing, cracking, theft; data corruption or loss: human error, media failure; communications: computer network equipment, network storm, telephones; security: passwords compromised, computer virus; legal: change in legislation; personnel: unavailability of essential staff, industrial action. Companies need to plan for disaster: before: risk analysis, preventive measures, training; during: how should staff and systems respond; after: recovery measures, post mortem analysis. Hardware can usually be replaced and is usually insured. Software and data needs to be backed up off site. Alternative communication systems should be arranged in case of network failure or inaccessible premises, e.g. emergency telephone number, home working, alternative data center.
- disrespectability — Lack of respectability.
- district attorney — an officer who acts as attorney for the people or government within a specified district.
- dress-down friday — In some companies employees are allowed to wear clothes that are less smart than usual on a Friday. This day is known as a dress-down Friday.
- dynamic insurance — Dynamic insurance is a type of insurance coverage where the policyholder can choose to increase benefits and premiums by a fixed percentage each year to offset the effects of inflation.
- dynamics analyzer — (language) (DYANA) An early language specialised for vibrational and other dynamic physical systems.
- early closing day — a day on which most shops in a town or area close after lunch
- early renaissance — a style of art developed principally in Florence, Italy, during the 15th century and characterized chiefly by the development of linear perspective, chiaroscuro, and geometrically based compositions.
- eastern orthodoxy — the faith, practice, membership, and government of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- egyptian brackets — (programming, humour) A humourous term for K&R indent style, referring to the "one hand up in front, one down behind" pose which popular culture inexplicably associates with Egypt.
- electrostatically — In an electrostatic manner, by electrostatic means.
- elementary school — primary school